Volume 2
Number 1 January Article 2
1-30-2019
Competing Narratives of Victimhood and Aggression: Japanese Competing Narratives of Victimhood and Aggression: Japanese Memory of Wartime in Sakae Tsuboi’s Nijushi No Hitomi
Memory of Wartime in Sakae Tsuboi’s Nijushi No Hitomi
Shobichatul Aminah
School of Strategic and Global Studies, Universitas Indonesia
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/jsgs Recommended Citation
Recommended Citation
Aminah, Shobichatul (2019) "Competing Narratives of Victimhood and Aggression: Japanese Memory of Wartime in Sakae Tsuboi’s Nijushi No Hitomi," Journal of Strategic and Global Studies: Vol. 2 : No. 1 , Article 2.
DOI: 10.7454/jsgs.v2i1.1013
Available at: https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/jsgs/vol2/iss1/2
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Strategic and Global Studies at UI Scholars Hub. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Strategic and Global Studies by an authorized editor of UI Scholars Hub.
7
Competing Narratives of Victimhood and Aggression: Japanese Memory of Wartime in Sakae Tsuboi’s Nijushi No Hitomi
Shobichatul Aminah
School of Strategic and Global Studies, Universitas Indonesia
ABSTRACT
The conclusion of the Pacific War witnessed the emergence of contradictory narratives that soon competed for ownership of Japan’s official wartime memory. As ardent nationalism was replaced with pacifism and a global outlook, Japan’s total military defeat was largely refigured into a narrative of victimhood. Simultaneously, the aggression of the past was purposefully downplayed. Pacifism is enshrined in the Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution. That clause represents a cherished part of the country’s postwar identity.
This study investigates the memory of war as described in Sakae Tsuboi’s novel, Nijushi no Hitomi, that depicts the lives of a teacher’s and her 12 students in a hamlet on Shodo Island who experienced the Pacific War. Using Sakae’s novel as a lens, this paper considers Japanese memory of war with from the dialectic of the nationalistic spirit propagated during the war and the later commitment to pacifism. Employing the narrative discourse theory proposed by Genette, the narration of war memory is explored through the analysis of the actions and events surrounding the characters in the text.
Narrative voices in the text are examined to reveal the perspective of each character in forming different memories of the war. The memories of war are discussed based on Hashimoto Akiko's theory which proposed that there are three kinds of Japanese memories about the war; i.e as a hero, as a victim and as a perpretator.
This paper shows that there are two kinds of narrative in the Japanese memory related to war: i.e memory of victimhood and heroism. Memories of victimhood provoked trauma which in part gave rise to the Japanese commitment toward pacifism. At the same time, memories of heroism can lead to unvarnished nationalism, with can still cause the commitment to pacifism to waver.
Keywords: Pacifism, Nationalism, Wartime Memory, Nijushi no Hitomi, and Sakae Tsuboi.
1. Introduction
Generally defined, pacifism is a commitment to create reconciliation. In narrower sense, pacifism is interpreted as an anti-war and anti-violence commitment. Furthermore, pacifism is defined through its dialectical relationship with the notion of a “fair” or “just” war in the Western tradition. In the Western tradition, pacifism is interpreted as a continuum to assess the morality of war which covers realism, a theory related to fair war, and the theory of peace. Based on the definition proposed by the historian Henry Cadbury, pacifism in the narrow sense is interpreted as an unconditional, absolute rejection of any form of war and violence. Inspired by Christian teaching, this total rejection of war became combined with liberal political goals from the ideas of Enlightenment in the European history. Hence, the most active pacifist groups came from Europe and North America.
8 Pacifism in Japan has different historical background when compared to pacifism in Western tradition. Japan’s pacifism arose after its defeat in the World War II, when Japan suffered from its total defeat. Due to extreme economic difficulties and physical suffering induced by that prolonged war, there arose a new understanding about war and peace. Having been victimized in the Pacific war, Japan did not want to ever relive the horrible experiences related to the war. Therefore, pacifism came to be understood as a pragmatic step in order to protect themselves (Cai Yuan, newvoices.org.au newvoices.org.au 2008:179-200).
Thus, Japan’s pacifism is fundamentally different from pacifism in Western countries.
Japan’s pacifism is not based on religious ideals which contains the spirit of non-violence, hatred of barbarian morals that inform wartime acts of aggression, and respect for human rights. Ian Buruma in his book, Inventing Japan (New York: Modern Library, 2003) explained Japan’s pacifism as the 'Cult of Hiroshima' where the myth of ‘victimhood’ is immortalized in various forms, such as literatures, movies, visual arts, and the peace movement. Japan’s identity as a Pacifist Country is stipulated in the Article 9 of The New Constitution of Japan. Japan adopted the new constitution under US pressure in 1947, two years after unconditionally surrendering to the Allies. Article 9 of the peacetime constitution enshrines the Japanese commitment toward peace and refusal of all forms of militarism.
Specifically, Japan officially rejected war as a sovereign right and forbade the settlement of international disputes using military force. Towards these goals, article 9 also states that armed forces will not be retained for the purposes of aggression. Since then, Japan has embraced its commitment to pacifism and the complete rejection of warfare.
According to the Supreme Commander of the Allies, Douglas MacArthur, the provision was proposed by Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara, who “wanted it to stop any kind of military for Japan—in the form of any military institution.” On the other hand, based on several interpretations, it is clear that Shidehara disputed this notion. According to Shidehara, the inclusion of article 9 in Japan’s Constitution was proposed by members of the Government Section (Min-Sei-Kyoku) initiated by the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces (Rengō- Koku-Gun-Saikō-Shirei-Kan), and Charles Kades, one of Douglas MacArthur’s close colleagues. The article was then approved by the Parliament of Japan in November 3rd, 1946.
The complete script of the article is as follows (“Japan: Article 9 of Constitution”, loc.gov):
ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use
9 of force as means of settling international disputes. (2) To accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.
Regardless of who proposed the clause in article 9 of The National Constitution of Japan, the emergence of pacifism in Japan reflects the state of emergency after the war, when Japan suffered utter ruination in the aftermath of its defeat. Different from Western pacifism, pacifism in Japan arose from feelings of victimization. Residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who became victims of atomic bombings were martyrs who were sacrified on the altar of future peace. Moreover, article 9 of The Constitution of Japan which became a symbol of Japan’s pacifism resulted from Allies pressure, as punishment for Japan’s involvement in Pacific War. Considering the quasi-fascist, expansionist background of the Japanese government during World War II, it is clear that Japan sought to control the Pacific region through economic and military might. Japan’s rapid, pacifist-oriented development resulted in a great country with a powerful economy, yielding international clout and new leadership opportunities within Asia. However, the Japanese government’s commitment to pacifism shows signs of fading. In an interview with Wall Street Journal on the 25th of October 2013, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe explained his notion of “active pacifism” to improve Japan’s leadership in Asia, no longer in just economics, but also in the military field.
This study investigates the memory of war as described in Sakae Tsuboi’s novel, Nijushi no Hitomi (Tokyo: Kodama, 2014). This research aims to show how Japan’s pacifist ideals are facing a dilemma currently. This dilemma is associated with memories of the war in the Japanese mind. As is known, there are not many official historical sources that recorded specific Japanese experience during the Pacific War. But, memory of the war has been often expressed via literary works, movies, and even animations produced after Japan’s defeat and into the present. One of literary works that expresses the Japanese wartime experience is Sakae Tsuboi’s Nijushi no Hitomi, first published in 1952. This novel tells about a teacher’s experience with her 12 students in a school situated in a hamlet on Shodo island. It recounts events that occurred during the war and after the defeat. In this novel, war is told from each character’s point of view.
The theory used in this research is narratology or narrative discourse proposed by Gennete.
Narrative discourse studies the internal mechanism of a narrative, which is formed from story being told. Narratology has 3 elements, which are; story, narration, and narrative. Narration is
10 a series of events and stories told by the narrator to form a narrative. Narrative discourse tries to understand the correlation between story, narration, and narrative. Narrative analysis is used to reveal narrative structure in the story without removing the narrative from the context of its production and its receiver. This research observes the relation between narration and narrative in the category of narrative instance analysis. Narrative instance analysis is involves assessing narrative voice via examination of the narrator’s appearance in the narrative text.
The narrative instance is also closely related to the time of the narration and narrative perspective. Narrative perspective is a point of view adopted by the narrator. Genette introduced the term focalization as a replacement for perspective and point of view.
In this research, characters and events were analyzed to reveal the narrative about war memory in the text. Narrative instances were analyzed to foster understanding about the relation between narrator and story in the narrative text. Narrative voice was examined to indentify the focalisator or the person who determines point of view in the story. Characters and events in the text were examined based on mode of telling and the focalizator to reveal various views related to war which appear in the text. The memories of war are discussed based on Hashimoto Akiko's theory which proposed that there are three kinds of Japanese memories of war. In her book entitled The Long Defeat: Cultural Trauma, Memory, and Identity in Japan (New York: Oxford UP, 2015, 4), Hashimoto proposed that for the Japanese, war is a horrendous event which left an indelible imprint in their collective consciousness. Those memories about the war are closely related to narration about the fallen heroes, victims during the war and after the defeat, and perpetrators of the war.
2. Narrative Structure
In Nijushi no Hitomi, narrative structure is built through characters and events told by a narrator. The story begins with the new academic year on April 4th, 1928. The story describes how children of the hamlet were alive when a major change was happening in the Japanese history. The narrator is a third person who is notably absent from the narrative.
Nevertheless, the distance between narrator and narrative is very close, because the narrator is omniscient. The narrator not only tells events experienced by the characters, actions and sayings of the characters, but also their thoughts. Despite of the omniscience of the narrator, the narrator is not a focalisator who determines the narrative perspective. The narrator does not use his own perspective but adopts the perspective of some of the characters in the story.
Characters who become focalizators in the story are Oishi-sensei (the teacher), her students in
11 the hamlet school and her son, Daikichi. All these characters have different perspectives related to the war and help build the narrative.
Oishi-sensei is described as a primary school teacher. She teaches her students with great empathy and she is cherished by all her students, especially for teaching them happy children’s songs. Her husband was a sailor who was sent to the battlefield and died in the war. She has two sons and a daughter. The daughter died in the aftermath of the war. Oishi- sensei is described as a character who hates the war with a passion. For her, war is merely a vanity that ensnared many victims and caused deep misery.
「わたし、つぐづぐ先生いやんなった。三月でやめよかしら。」
「やめる？なんでまた。」
「やめて一文菓子屋でもするほうがましよ。まい日まい日忠君愛国…」
…………
「そのほうがまだましよ。一年から六年まで、わたしはわたしなりに一生けんめい やったつもりよ。ところがどうでしょう。男の子ったら半分以上軍人志望なんだも の。いやんなった。」(Tsuboi Sakae, Tokyo: Kodama, 2014, 160)
“In the long run, I came to hate being a teacher. I’m going to resign in March.”
“Resign? Why?”
“It would be better to open a candy store or something like that. Every day I fed them with patriotism and loyalty to the emperor.”
...
“Your condition is still better! Take a look at me, from first grade through the sixth it was my intention to teach them heartily. But, what
I can do now... more than half of boys want to join army. It’s just awful….”
On the other hand, Oishi-sensei’s eldest son, Daikichi, is described as a child who is very proud if he could be a soldier. Daikichi is a child who was born in the wartime.
12 平和の日を知らぬ大吉、生まれたその夜も防空演習でまっくらだったと聞いている
。灯火管制のなかで育ち、セイレンの音になれて育ち、真夏に綿入れの頭巾をもっ て通学した彼には、母がどうしてこうまで戦争を憎まねばならないのか、よくのみ こめていなかった。どこの家にも、だれかが戦争にいっていて、若い者という若い 者はほとんどいない村、それをあたりまえのことと考えていたのだ。学徒は動員さ れて女子どもも勤労奉仕に出る。あらゆる神社の境内は枯葉一枚ものこさず清掃さ れていた。それが国民生活だと大吉たちは信じた。 (Ibid, 197)
Daikichi who had never experienced peace time, knew that he was born on a night darkened by an air raid drill. He grew when night lights were forbidden and was already used to the sound of sirens. He was accustomed to going to school wearing a thick hood for head protection, even in the middle of summer, in case there was air strike. As a result, he cannot understand why his mother would hate the war. All families sent their family members to the battlefield, so there are no young people left in the village. Daikichi considered that an obvious matter of course. Students were mobilized, women and children were employed as laborers.
“The grounds of the shrine have been completely swept clean, not even a stalk of fall leaves remains”. Daikichi and many children of his age believe that this kind of life was all there was for a Japanese citizen.
Male students of the Primary School in the hamlet are described as joyous and impassioned young children. They live during hard times when the economic depression engulfed Japan.
そういうはげしい動きの中で、幼い子どもらは麦めしをたべて、いきいきと育った
。前途に何が待ちかまえているかをしらず、ただ成長することがうれしかった。
五年生になっても、はやりの運動靴を買ってもらえないことを、人間の力ではなん ともできぬ不況のせいとあきらめて、昔ながらのわらぞうりに満足し、それが新し いことで彼らの気持はうきうきした. (Ibid, 98-99)
While various noteworthy events occurred, those children were raised only through eating rice mixed with wheat. Without knowing what will await them in the future, they were quite happy that they could grow bigger.
13 When they went up to the fifth grade, their parents could not afford to buy the current mode of new sneakers. But they did not complain or blame the economic depression, it was out of their control. They were quite content to wear straw sandals. They were happy because those straw sandals were new.
The students are smart children, but most of them want to join the army. Those who had no desire to join the army were inevitably sent to the battlefield anyway. They are young children who wanted to join the military and were filled with a sense of pride. This patriotic fervor was transmitted to them by Oishi-sensei’s colleague, the unnamed old teacher, in the hamlet school. The old man is described as disciplined and highly loyal to the country. He speaks in a firm but gentle tone and teaches the children songs about the spirit of defending the country.
千引の岩
千引の岩は重からず
国家につくす義は重し
事あるその日、敵あるその日
ふりくる矢だまのただ中を
おかしてすすみて国のため
つくせや男児の本分を、赤心を (Ibid, 55)
Chibiki Stone
The Chibiki stone is not so heavy
Not as heavy as our duty to the state (kokka) On that day, on that day when there are enemies Move forward for the sake of the country Darting together with arrows
The wholehearted duty of a young man
In terms of temporal background, the narrative ranges from the year 1928, when Hirohito was crowned to be an Emperor in the Showa period, until the postwar period, during the 1950s.
14 The background of space in the story is when Japan faced difficulties because of the economic recession which knocked down the whole world at that time. Later on, the Manchuria and Shanghai incidents that happened consecutively made Japan engaged in the Pacific War. It resulted in the issuance of mobilization and conscription policy for the Japanese people, with no exception for the villagers of the hamlet.
ただ彼らの頭にこびりついているのは、不況ということだけであった。それが世界 につながるものとはしらず、ただだれのせいでもなく世の中が不景気になり、けん やくしなければならぬ、ということだけがはっきりわかっていた。その不景気の中 で東北や北海道の飢饉を知り、ひとり一銭ずつの寄付金を学校へもっていった。そ うした中で満州事変、上海事変はつづいておこり、幾人かの兵隊が岬からもおくり だされた。 (Ibid, p. 98)
What is imprinted in their mind was only the problem of economic depression. They clearly understood that everyone around the world was affected by it but had no idea who to blame.
Around the globe, everyone experienced the terrible feelings of economic despair.
Everywhere, everyone had to scrimp. In that time of recession, they heard that there was a famine in Tohoku and Hokkaido, thereupon every child should bring 1 cent to school as donation. Even in such times, incidents in Manchuria broke out, followed by Shanghai; as a result, several men of the hamlet were called into the army.
The prominent historical events including the Japan-China War, Anti-comintern Pact between Japan, Germany, and Italy, and Japan’s mass mobilization movement国民精神総動員 (Nationalism Spirit Mobilization) (Ibid, 173) formed the background of the story. The Nationalism Spirit Mobilization「国民精神総動員」
(Kokuminseishinsōdoin) was a policy created by the first Konoe Cabinet in September 1937.
This policy was buttressed through many campaign slogans; 「八紘一宇」 Hakkō Ichiu (Universal Companionship), 「挙国一致」Kyokokuitchi (National Unity), and
「堅忍持久」Ken'ninjikyū (Never Surrender) based on 「東洋の王道」 Tōyō no ōdō' (Way of the Emperor). This mobilization movement stirred the spirit of the population, making the Japanese willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the state or willing to die for the sake of the Emperor.
15 Nijushi no Hitomi was written during the early 1950s, which informed the social context of the work. It was published for the first time in 1952, 7 years after Japan’s defeat in the World War II or 5 years after the publication of The New Constitution of Japan which contained article 9 that became the symbol of Japan’s pacifism. 1952 is the same year that the Allied occupation in Japan came to an end. The Allied forces returned the sovereignty to the people of Japan on the condition that Japan must sign the San Francisco Treaty. According to the treaty, Japan reserved the right to retrieve its sovereignty over its pre-imperial core territory, but it lost the territories it governed since the late Meiji period—including Korea, Taiwan, and Shakalin. Several small islands in Pacific Ocean which were under the Japanese control were also removed from Japan’s jurisdiction and placed under the mandate of the League of Nations.
On the same day the San Francisco Treaty was signed, Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Yoshida and the President of America, Harry S. Truman also signed a document which allowed the Armed Forces of the USA to continue the use of their military bases in Japan.
Before Japan regained its full sovereignty in 1962, the government had vindicated of 80.000 people who were indicted as war criminals before, and many of them had been returned to their original position both in the government position and political position. On April 26th, 1950, soldiers who became prisoners of war were also repatriated to Japan, greeted by enthusiastic crowds waving the flag of Japan. Those war criminals were repatriated alive and in memorial containers of ashes.
Collectively, the 1950s represent the period of Japan’s recovery from its defeat in the World War II. After Japan surrendered unconditionally in 1945, the Allied forces led by USA occupied Japan and made a drastic change. Japan was stripped down, the imperial system was dissolved, and the government form of Japan changed into democracy. The economic and education systems were rebuilt. Japan was reconstructed drastically and forced to recover from the trauma of air strikes, including the atomic bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The decade of 1950s seemed to be a kind of turning point for Japan, from Japan as Western enemy to Japan as the Western ally.
3. Memory of Wartime: Pacifism vs Nationalism
Returning to the text of Nijushi no Hitomi, wartime memory is relayed to the reader from the perspective of its characters. There are several characters which became focalisators in the
16 text. The focalisators discussed in the text are; Oishi-sensei, Daikichi, and the male students of the hamlet school. Oishi-sensei told the war from her perspective as a teacher and as a mother. Based on her perspective as a teacher, war is a suffering that is more severe than poverty. The hamlet is a poor remote village. Most of the villagers work as farmers and fishermen. When the economic depression occurred, they faced a very difficult life. But, in Oishi-sensei’s point of view, being fishermen or farmers who oppressed by economic difficulties is much better than becaming soldiers who died in vain on the battlefield.
先生、軍人すかんの？」
「うん、漁師や米屋のほうがすき。」
「へえーん。どうしえ？」
「死ぬの、おしいもん。」
「よわむしじゃなあ。」
“Sensei, you do not like soldiers?”
“No, I prefer fishermen and rice merchants.”
“Seriously? Why?”
“Don’t you know, they all die?”
“Well, the weaklings!”
In Oishi-sensei’s perspective as a mother, war made a mother feel that she has given birth in vain. Giving love, and taking care of her sons, became a useless endeavor, because they will inevitably be sent to the battlefield. War is merely a dark future that the Japanese young children must face. War --even though carried out under the pretext to keep the peace-- disregards human life, bringing only death.
肩をふって走ってゆくそのうしろ姿には、無心に明日へのびようとするけんめいさ が感じられる。その可憐なうしろ姿の行く手にまちうけているものが、やはり戦争 でしかないとすれば、人は何のために子をうみ、愛し、育てるのだろう。砲弾にう
17 たれ、裂けてくだけて散る人の命というものを、惜しみ悲しみ止どめることが、ど うして、してはならないことなのだろう。治安を維持するとは、人の命を惜しみま もることではなく、人間の精神の自由をさえ、しばるというのか．．．。(Ibid, 185- 186)
From behind, the swing of shoulders (of Daikichi) unwittingly reflected his strong desire to grow up quickly. If the only future that awaits that lovely young child is the war, then for what purpose do people give birth, love, and raise them? Why can we not stop this affliction?
Hit by bullets, then torn apart, human life scattered, why must we do these things? Keeping the peace; it does not protect the generosity of any human life; rather it binds fast the freedom of the human character....
War is also viewed as a terror that causes an endless fear. Even after the war ended, Japanese life was marred by the precarious situation of the war. War became an indelible trauma in the Japanese subconscious memory.
いっさいの人間らしさを犠牲にして人びとは生き、そして死んでいった。おどろき に見はった目はなかなかに閉じられず、閉じればまなじりを流れてやまぬ涙をかく して、何ものかに追いまわされているような毎日だった。しかも人間はそのことに さえいつしかなれてしまって、立ちどまり、ふりかえることを忘れ、心の奥までざ らざらに荒らされたのだ。荒れまいとすれば、それは生きることをこばむことにさ えなった。そのあわただしさは、戦いの終わった今日からまだ明日へもつづいてい ることを思わせた。戦争はけっして終わったとは思えぬことが多かった。(Ibid, 195)
People lived by sacrificing all of their humanity, and then they died. They lived as if they were being harried and chased every day. Their eyes that looked on in shock could barely be shut. Even if they managed to shut these eyes, it was to hide the tears that flowed endlessly from their sides. But, in the long run, unconsciously they got used to it, they became so numb, and forgot to think about it again, and even became ferocious to the bottom of their hearts. Ferocious meanwhile had the same meaning with unwilling to live. That such situation when they were ready to strike made many people think that the war which has been ended today, will continue tomorrow. Many of them felt that the war was not over yet.
18 On the other hand, the young characters in this novel have different perspectives with Oishi- sensei. A very contradictory view of war came from the character of Daikichi, Oishi-sensei’s son. This young child viewed the war as such a dignity. Soldiers who died in the battlefield are heroes to be proud of. Daikichi was very proud if he could strive for the sake of the state (and the Emperor).
のぼせた顔にぬれ手ぬぐいをあててでもやろようにいったが、熱のはげしさはぬれ 手ぬぐいではききめがなかった。かえって大吉は母をさとしでもするように、「そ したらお母さん、靖国の母になれんじゃないか。」
これこそ君に忠であり親には孝だと信じているのだ。それでは話にならなかった。
「あああ、このうえまだ靖国の母にしたいの、このお母さんを。『靖国』は妻だけ でたくさんでないか。」
しかし大吉は、そういう母をひそかに恥じてさえいたのだ。軍国の少年には面子が あった。彼は母のこと極力世間にかくした。大吉にすれば、母の言動はなんとなく 気になった。
His mother was intending to reprimand Daikichi, but that did not affect him because of Daikichi’s passionate spirit. Otherwise, Daikichi tried to contradict his mother.
“If so, Mom, you will not gain the honor of being mother of fallen hero enshrined at Yasukuni.”
Apparently, Daikichi was very sure that to die on the battlefield is the best way to show his loyalty for his parents and the Emperor. Hence, they did not have the same understanding.
“For Heaven’s sake, you still want your mother become the mother of Yasukuni warrior? Is it not enough that your mother became “Yasukuni warrior’s widow?”
But, on the sly, Daikichi felt ashamed by his mother’s attitude. As a boy who lived in a military country, he felt national pride. As much as possible, he wanted to hide his mother’s attitude from the world. For Daikichi, his mother’s words and attitude were worrying.
19 Similarly, the war in the perspective of Oishi-sensei’s male students. In their point of view, become soldiers is a pride of its own. Those young children imagined a better life if they become soldiers.
「ぼくは高等科で、卒業したら兵隊にいくまで、漁師だ。兵隊行ったら、下士官に なって、曹長ぐらいになるから、おぼえとけ」。．．．「下士官の志望したらな、
曹長までは、平ちゃらでなられるいうもん。下士官は月給もらえるんど。」そこに 出世の道を正は見つけたらしい。．．．「ぼく、あととりじゃないもんそれに漁師 よりよっぽど下士官のほうがえいもん。」(Ibid, 157-158)
“After graduation I will become a fisherman, until I am accepted into the army. After becoming a soldier, I will pursue my career to become a petty officer. I want to be a sergeant or whatever, so long as you remember that.” It seems that Tadashi has found his way of life there... “By being a petty officer, I can easily be promoted to be a sergeant major. Petty officers also get a monthly salary” .... “I am not an heir; besides it is better to be a soldier than a fisherman.”
すると竹一も、まけずに声をはげまして、「ぼくは幹部候補生になるもん。タンコ に負けるかい。すぐに少尉じゃど。」....。「ぼくはあととりじゃけんど、ぼくじゃ って軍人のほうが米屋より営門」(Ibid, 158)
Takeichi who did not want to fail replied piercingly, “I will be a cadet, you cannot defeat me, Tanko. I will immediately become a second lieutenant.” .... “I am an heir. But it is much better to be a soldier than a rice merchant.”
吉次や磯吉がうらやましげな顔をしていた。竹一や正のように、さしてその日の暮 らしにはこまらぬ家族の息子とはちがう吉次や磯吉が、戦争について、家でどんな 言葉をかわしているか知るよしもないが、だまっていても、やがては彼らも同じよ うに兵隊にとられてゆくのだ。
Kichiji and Isokichi seemed jealous. They did not come from a wealthy family as Takeichi’s and Tadashi’s family. Who knows how they talked about the war to their family? Even though they were silent, it is almost certain that later they will be hired to become soldiers like the others.
20 The perspectives of the above characters narrate a specific kind of memory about the war.
Published less than a decade after Japan’s defeat in the World War II, this novel can be used as a lens to see how memory related to the wartime informed the Japanese mindset during and after the war. Hashimoto Akiko (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015) assumed that for the Japanese, war is a horrendous event which left an indelible imprint in their collective consciousness. Those memories about the war are closely related to narration about the fallen heroes, victims during the war and after the defeat, perpetrator of the war.
Based on her narrative analysis, there are two kinds of war memory found in Nijushi no Hitomi, through the perspective of Oishi’s character, a woman who worked as a teacher and a housewife. Memories of the victim dominate almost the whole narrative structure of the text.
Living in poverty due to the war and suffering the loss of family members to the military machine, the wartime memories expressed by the students of the hamlet school and their families form strong impressions of victimhood. Victim consciousness is also clearly communicated through Oishi sensei’s viewpoint related to the worthless human sacrifices required by the war. As a teacher she felt that it was vanity to teach her students about sciences or any kind of knowledges if, in the end, those children would be recruited for the military, only to die on the battlefield. War also created suffering for women and children because their fathers and husbands became victims of the ferocity of war. Besides being a war widow, a woman like Oishi also suffers by imagining her beloved son might be sent to the front line as a martyr. In addition, all the residents of the hamlet are affected by the suffering associated with the economic difficulties caused by wartime spending and compounded by the government encouraging the people to be patient with hardships they faced. On top of this, the constant terror of unexpected air strikes overshadowed their daily life during the war. These traumas and horrible wartime memories for the victims in the homeland strongly led to anti-war sentiment and a commitment to pacifism. From the standpoint of the memory of victimhood, which dominates the text, at a glance, it is very easy to see the alignment of the author with the narrative of pacifism. But it seems that the author has only commended those pacifist voices to women and the elders.
On the other hand, memory of heroism in the text is expressed through the narration of young children such as Daikichi and the male students of the hamlet school. Those young children’s voices—even though they do not dominate the narrative structure, are prominent in the text.
Those young people, who still have a long future, narrated their perspective that participating
21 in the war as seen as a dignifying honor. To die in the battlefield and becoming a Yasukuni warrior was a mark of pride. For the young like Daikichi, to be killed in the battlefield and remembered as a hero is the best way to show their loyalty to their parents and the Emperor.
For the other young children, the war offered promise of prosperity.
Those memories of the concept of heroism as expressed by the young children are closely related to the spirit of nationalism that was touted by the Japanese government during the wartimes. War in nationalism spirit was seen in such that way to become the means to realize prosperity, even reconciliation in the area. The mission of that nationalism spirit mobilization is to realize the idea of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity. In this point of view, Japan’s participation in the Pacific War was not considered to be Japanese colonialism in Asian countries, but rather as an attempt for liberation from non-Asian power who had colonized many areas in Asia. In short, the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity would be realized if Japan as the old brother set the Asia free from European and American’s colonialism.
Memory as victim brought about Japan’s commitment to be a pacifist country after the second World War. Trauma resulting from the war, emergency condition, privation and sufferings from the aftermath of the war caused Japan to adopt the new constitution which bound Japan to a future of pacifism and the renunciation of all war. Pacifism became the new identity for Japan which has been known as a Fascist country during the wartime. On the other hand, the wartime memories of heroism inform by the nationalism spirit implanted during the wartime never fully faded.
Two kinds of memory about the wartime as described above imply two contradictory aspects, i.e. pacifism and nationalism. On the one side, pacifism required an anti-war commitment, while on the other hand nationalism considered war as a way to realize reconciliation and prosperity. This contradiction caused competition of narratives among Japanese people.
Narrative of pacifism were dominantly expressed in the text. As can be seen in the Nijushi no Hitomi text, the perspective that came from anti-war characters is based on a sense of concern for the Japanese in misery who became victims in the wartime. Since before Japan’s defeat in August 1945, during the wartime, Japanese people had already suffered from economic difficulties. Their suffering was increasing after the war ended with the defeat of Japan. The war which initially addressed to create prosperity for the Great East-Asia plunged them into the heavier suffering, economically and politically. After the defeat, it was not until two years later, Japan adopted an enactment which contained the anti-war article.
22 Narrative of pacifism represented the official voice of Japanese government who made pacifism as the official identity of Japan. Though not dominant, narratives of nationalism expressed by the young children who still have a long future indicated that in the middle of dominant pacifism narrative, the nationalism spirit was not lost and stay afloat. Although Hashimoto mentions there are three kinds of Japanese war memory, the third memory, memory of perpetrator, does not appear in the narrative structure of Nijushi no Hitomi. In the researcher’s viewpoint, the absence of the memory of Japanese as perpetrators exemplifies the fact that this kind of memory is denied, even deleted. As stated by Hashimoto, the memory of Japan-as-victim led to Japan’s embrace of pacifism, while the memory of Japan- as-hero has led to enduring nationalism, but the memory of Japan-as-perpetrator should have led to regional and international reconciliations. Thus far, the way to reconciliations has not been an easy path for Japan.
In the international viewpoint, memory as victim which underlie pacifism as official identity of Japan is something problematic. Japan’s identity as a pacifist country during the wartime acted as if it could erase the history of Japanese aggression toward Asia before the war. On the other hand, Japanese pacifism spirit cannot instantly wipe out the nationalism spirit that was strongly implanted since before the wartime. That long-lasting national spirit encouraged Japan to set the goal as being a leader in Asia. Even when interviewed by Wall Street Journal on October 25th, 2013, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revealed his idea connection with active pacifism on improving Japan’s leadership in Asia, not only in economy, but also in military field. In his speech on the 70th anniversary of the war, Prime Minister Abe restated about Japan’s possibility to take the greater role in security. That made pacifism became something of a dilemma. Furthermore, nowadays Japan face threats because of Chinese revival, both in economy and military, and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Under treaty oath, the commitment to pacifism made Japan cannot make use of their military power in national defense.
To date, Japan is a country which remains very proud of the economic achievement and their commitment as a pacifist country. But lately some situations have made Japanese government under the rule of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe begin to think again about their pacifism policy by proposing the reinterpretation of article 9 in Constitution of Japan. Besides that, threat from China and North Korea at this junction however recalls the Japanese nationalism spirit.
But, denial of memory as perpetrators or Japan’s inability in admitting its mistake during the
23 period of colonial government in Asia has made the Japanese new nationalism to be viewed as fracture nationalism or perilous patriotism internationally.
4. Conclusion
The narrative analysis shows that there are two kinds of memory related to the war found in Nijushi no Hitomi text, namely national memory as victim and memory as hero. Memory as victim brought Japan to commitment as a pacifism country after the World War II. While memory as hero made the nationalism spirit which has been implanted since the wartime not dissapear. Those two aspects are very contradictory because pacifism demands anti-war commitment, while on the other hand, nationalism considers war as the way to realize reconciliation and prosperity. Somewhat contradictorily, both of those two kinds of memory exist in Japanese collective consciousness. Memory of Japan as a victim tends to win the narrative competition, hence pacifism served as the official international identity for Japan.
Japan’s identity as a pacifist country has been written in article 9 of new constitution of Japan which was published shortly after Japan’s defeat in World War II.
Considering the Japanese background of history during the wartime which adhered to fascism, the Japanese commitment to pacifism after the war is something unstable. This is because the nationalism spirit that was touted during the wartime cannot simply be erased. As well as the idea of Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity in the wartime, nowadays Japan also sets the goal to become a leader in the area, both in economy and military. Japan’s identity as pacifist country since the issuance of the peacetime constitution has now begun to falter.
Japan faces a dilemma because the pacifism commitment requires Japan to not become involved in any outward projection of force or militarism. The critical situation faced by Japan today is the result of Chinese economic growth and military prowess, coupled with North Korea’s nuclear ambitions which has prompted the Abe government to begin to re- einterpret article 9 in the vein of collective defense in order to overcome the military limitations. PM Abe also offers notion about active pasificm to improve Japan’s leadership in Asia, not only in economy, but also in the sphere of military, while seeking to regenerate their new spirit of nationalism. But as the new spirit of old nationalism has begun rear its head, Japan’s identity as a pacifist country is most certainly jeopardized.
24 Acknowledgments
This research was generously supported by Department of Languages and Literatures Faculty of Cultural Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta
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